My wife and I just got back from a four day weekend in NY. Along with shopping, eating at great resturants, seeing “The Odd Couple” on Broadway, Emanuel Ax at Carnegie Hall, we caught “Mrs Palfrey At The Clarmont” at the Paris. Always an elegant theater the Paris continues to be one of the best places to see a movie. It’s weekends like we just had that make me wish I still lived in NYC.

I saw the very light French sex-farce called “The Gift,” which featured the very lovely Clio Goldsmith (the main reason this 17 year old took a solo trip into the city to see this flick), here in 1982. On the same day, I took in the movie “Frances” starring Jessica Lange on the east side (I’m thinking the 68th Street Playhouse or the Beekman, but I can’t recall). I remember planning the day out carefully so that I could hit three movies in Manhattan (movies my friends would ever agree to see) on the same day and had to travel by bus and subway between theaters. I forget the 3rd movie, but I seem to recall one of the 3rd Ave theaters near 59th street (Coronet, Baronet, Cinema 1 & 2) might have been involved.

That was a fun day. I miss those times!

I’m also looking for any information on a movie I saw in 1982 or so by the name of “Not a Love Story” at either this theater, the Festival, the 57th Street Playhouse, the Plaza or the Cinema III in the Plaza Hotel. It was a graphic documentary on the porno industry that was un-rated by the MPAA but would have definitely garnered an “X” rating itself. Strike a chord with anyone?

Nice to see that Showbill. The Stranger, beautifully realized by Luchino Visconti and with a tremendous performance by Marcello Mastroianni, has been out of circulation for decades and is a candidate for a major revival. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem likely because of what I’ve heard were rights issues involving the Camus estate. The French-language version, the most authentic, is what was shown in America.

â€œThe Strangerâ€ was everybodyâ€™s favorite Existentialist novel, but Viscontiâ€™s photogenic, operatic style seemed to swamp the bleakness of Camus. Somehow even the Italian title (â€œLo stranieroâ€) didnâ€™t appear right. Anway, the briefly-lived Showbills distributed in art theaters during the early â€˜60s made a short comeback in the winter of â€˜67-â€™68, and this—now renamed â€œShowcaseâ€—is one of them. By comparison with the earlier version, it was quite stripped downâ€"no photo from the film, no full credits list (youâ€™d never know Visconti was involved in it), but mainly a lot of ads for restaurants and art galleries and imported aperitifs.

“L. A. and even San Francisco has more film revival than New york currently does. Not that long ago film revival theaters were the norm in New York City and was something that I completely and thoroughly enjoyed. There were so many of them out there with crazy amazing scedules…There is still film revival here, but not like it used to be. Thanks again Paris Theater people for giving it a try.”
posted by Irv on Sep 6, 2005 at 8:31pm

I find it hard to believe that L.A. & San Francisco have a more vibrant revival scene than NYC. While NYC may “not be what it used to be” in terms of revival houses because of the demise of for-profit revival houses, there are still plenty of places screening classic films, many of which have opened since the 1980s when video killed the rep houses.

MoMA has always been around, but the three-screen Film Forum re-opened on Houston Street in 1989, which is one more screen that the “old” Film Forum had on Watts Street.

BAM has dedicated one of its four screens to rep films since it opened five years ago or so. The Walter Reade Theatre, which also shows rep films, didn’t open until 1980. And AMMI didn’t open until the late 1980s.

And don’t forget that Symphony Space (the Thalia), The French Institute and cultural institutions like Scandanavia House all have film programs.

And IFC is even getting into the mix; since they opened they did an Ozu retro and are now doing Truffaut.

Whatever happened to Philippe de Broca? â€œLe farceurâ€ arrived with exuberant word-of-mouth and heaps of praise from the NY critics. They portrayed it as going beyond the New Wave in sophistication and with popular entertainment value sometimes missing from its peers. Plus, everyone agreed that it was quite possibly the funniest film ever made. I thought it was funny, but not that funny; sophisticated but not that sophisticated. After it, de Broca made a couple of films that received some attention, notably â€œKing of Heartsâ€ and â€œThat Man from Rio,â€ and then disappeared into a stream of work that few have ever heard of. Recent filmographies list one, sometimes two features per year, plus tons of work for television. The phenomenon made me very skeptical about whether European films in the long run were really very much better than their Hâ€™wood counterpartsâ€"a good lesson to learn at the time when, to many, sub-titles seemed they could do no wrong.

Well…as predicted, at least to myself, the Saturday Midnight film series at The Paris has been discontinued. I called today because I didn’t see an ad in the Village Voice and was told that the series was yanked a few weeks ago. In a word…BUMMER!! First I want to say to the person or people responsible at the Paris for taking the time to put this series together…thank you!! I wanted it to last longer, but I knew it wouldn’t. And in all fairness, I was only able to make it to one screening of ‘North By Norhtwest’, but I was hoping to see more, and beleive me I was really upset about missing ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in 70mm. Not to be negative, but this type of entertainment isn’t very popular anymore and that is very unfortunate. Especially here in ‘the arts capital of the world’ (oh really?). L. A. and even San Francisco has more film revival than New york currently does. Not that long ago film revival theaters were the norm in New York City and was something that I completely and thoroughly enjoyed. There were so many of them out there with crazy amazing scedules. There is nothing like seeing a classic film, or any film for that matter up on the big screen the way it was meant to be seen. All those moments when I was sick of this town, I would always say ‘hey..where are you going to go where they have the same amount of film revival as New York?’. I still get sick of this town, but I am still here miraculously. There is still film revival here, but not like it used to be. Thanks again Paris Theater people for giving it a try.

â€œPicnic on the Grassâ€ was a minor Jean Renoir film, but a Renoir film nonetheless, with the added glory of having been filmed in glorious color at the Renoir estate near Cannes. The silly plot focuses on an aloof professor who spends a weekend with young people at a country estate, where he unbuttons his collar and learns to enjoy life. Itâ€™s not â€œRules of the Game,â€ but itâ€™s nice to look at.

The accompanying essay on dubbing vs. subtitles has Bosley Crowther ludicrously arguing on behalf of dubbing as a â€œcommercially advantageous way of presentingâ€ foreign films, because [in 1960 figures] dubbing would earn a dubber $12,000-25,000 per film whereas subtitling would earn a subtitler only $2,500-4,000 per film. (In all fairness, he also argues that distributors prefer the cheaper method to maximize their profits.)

I include the â€œNow Showing Atâ€ page to recall what was available at these theaters that Thanksgiving-Christmas season in 1960.

â€œPicnic on the Grassâ€ was a minor Jean Renoir film, but a Renoir film nonetheless, with the added glory of having been filmed in glorious color at the Renoir estate near Cannes. The silly plot focuses on an aloof professor who spends a weekend with young people at a country estate, where he unbuttons his collar and learns to enjoy life. Itâ€™s not â€œRules of the Game,â€ but itâ€™s nice to look at.

The accompanying essay on dubbing vs. subtitles has Bosley Crowther ludicrously arguing on behalf of dubbing as a â€œcommercially advantageous way of presentingâ€ foreign films, because [in 1960 figures] dubbing would earn a dubber $12,000-25,000 per film whereas subtitling would earn a subtitler only $2,500-4,000 per film. (In all fairness, he also argues that distributors prefer the cheaper method to maximize their profits.)

I include the â€œNow Showing Atâ€ page to recall what was available at these theaters that Thanksgiving-Christmas season in 1960.

What’s the deal with the Saturday midnight shows? ‘North By Northwest’ has been held over for a third week. It’s doing that well? The night I was there it was a good crowd, but it wasn’t sold out. Are these guys having trouble getting a new film to show, or is NxNW doing that well? I’m chompin at the bit to see another film there.

I agree that there is something intangible about seeing a film at the Paris. You almost feel like you are entering a cathedral. I was there for the first time in awhile Friday night for BALZAC AND THE LITTLE SEAMSTRESS and there is an ambiance. I may be imagining it, but the theatre seems almost circular.

The Paris accommodated such events. Eight years later, in the winter of â€˜68-â€™69, my wife organized an excursion of some 500 high school students to see a showing of Franco Zeffirelliâ€™s â€œRomeo and Julietâ€ which had been playing at that theater. That production we had seen live in its stage version at the City Center some five years earlier, and now in this film the director was recreating his magnificent stage effects set against location photography in Verona.

As luck would have it, a huge snowstorm closed NYC schools the day before and day of the showing. Panicked with 500 tickets in our hands, we ran announcements on the major NYC radio stations instructing students to show up at the theater for the scheduled 10:00 am special showing. We set out for the theater from Queens two hours early, snowstorm be damned. About a hundred kids eventually showed up. The school then soaked up the losses.

The club that you mention is actually underneath the Paris auditorium. Originally, the Paris had a big lounge in the lower level, similar to the 57th St. Playhouse. In a lease negotiation about 30 years ago, Pathe Cinema gave up that space in lieu of a rent increase, leaving the theatre with only the microscopic restrooms and lobby-ette downstairs. The space given up became a restaurant, and now, apparently, a night club.

Just came back from tonight’s screening of ‘North By Northwest’ at the Paris. GREAT! I hadn’t been there for quite sometime, and it was great to be back. It was really cool to be watching ‘North By Northwest’ only steps away from one of the film’s locations. There’s Cary Grant hanging out at The Oak Room at The Plaza….literally right around the corner from the Paris. COOL!

These Saturday Midnight shows seem to be pretty successful. The place wasn’t full, but I counted at least 60 or so people in the floor seats, and there must have been more in the mezz. Not bad for a midnight revival screening in Mid-town on a Saturday night. After the show there was a guy in the lobby who works for the Paris talking to people about the midnight shows. I overheard that they showed ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in 70mm a few weeks ago. DAMN! I wish I was there for that one. When I asked what was on deck for next week, he told me there is no schedule, just check the New York Times or the Village Voice for the midnight show advertisements. The Paris is a great theater, my only complaint which has nothing really to do with the theater itself, was that the music from the club next door, Frederick’s can be heard thudding through the walls from time to time during the film. Not too overwhelming, but even though it was noticeable it didn’t take anything away from the experience of seeing the film there.

If tonight is any indication it looks like the midnight Saturday shows will be happening for at least the foreseeable future, and that my friends, is a very cool thing.

Does anybody know where to find a listing of the upcoming Saturday night revivals at the Paris? By the time the Village Voice comes out, it’s usually too late for me to pull something together with friends; I’d be there early and often if I knew what was showing… I’m still kicking myself for not making “Rebel Without a Cause.”

This happened to me during the engagement of ‘DoÃ±a Flor And Her Two Husbands’ here.
A friend and I were seated in the balcony’s front row watching the film and I was smoking a cigarette I dropped onto the orchestra.
We went downstairs immediately and encountered an irate couple in the lobby.
I apologized over and over and offered to pay for salon services.
They wanted to call the police. They observed our sincere concern
and all returned to their seats.

If anybody has any info on further Saturday Midnight screenings at the Paris, please post them here. I was unable to go tonight to see ‘Rebel Without A Cause’, but I want to start going to these Midnight screenings to support the theater and this kind of program. Hey Paris Theater management, keep up the good work and continue to do the Saturday midnight screenings!! If you need some assistance in programming the screenings, let em know!! I would be more than happy to get involved.

“It’s probably worth pointing out that the Paris is one of the few remaining theaters in the city equipped for 70MM. ‘Howard’s End’ and Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Hamlet’ were both presented in 70MM at the Paris.” (ErikH, Mar 21, 2005)

During the time of the “Howards End” engagement, the theater was called the Fine Arts.